Way back in time: Jackson�s Oliver House Museum boasts charm, history

The Oliver House, 224 East Adams St. in Jackson, is a local treasure with a link to Missouri history.

The Jackson Heritage Association restored the house that Missouri State Senator Robert Burett Oliver and his wife, Marie Watkins Oliver, purchased in 1881 on property just to the southeast of the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse.

Marie Oliver, known as the "Betsy Ross of Missouri," designed and sewed the first Missouri state flag. The Olivers had five of their six children while living in Jackson for 15 years. In 1896, they moved to Cape Girardeau where R.B. Oliver established his law firm, but they continued to own the Jackson home for the next 20 years.

The property in Jackson was first sold in 1848 and three more times before Jacob Tobler, a town merchant and later postmaster of Jackson, purchased it in 1854 for $425. Then in 1855, Tobler sold the property, which by then included a house, to George and Sarah Ann Ferguson for $1,100. For the next three years, the Fergusons extensively remodeled the house in the Federal style that was popular in the early 1800s.

Today, the house is a museum. Many items on display are from the Oliver family, but most of the furnishings are donations from the area that reflect the late Victorian era.

Margie Schwent shows a Missouri state flag to Phisher Outman in the foyer of the Oliver House during a tour by third-graders Tuesday, May 15, 2018 in Jackson. The flag was designed by Marie Watkins Oliver.Fred Lynch

Kyle Mabuce has served on the museum's board for more than two decades and coordinates tours and docents. "There are no paid positions," he said, "and that helps keep our costs down. We are open the first Sunday of every month, every Sunday in December for Christmas tours, and we also are available by appointment. We have a very dedicated group of docents who like to tell the stories."

The Jackson Heritage Association was formed in 1976 and took over after a preceding group purchased the house to keep it from being condemned, Mabuce said. The heritage association opened the house for tours in 1980.

"We hold a fund-raising event about every two months or so in order to maintain the Oliver House in some way," he noted. "We have volunteers who help out with the special events, and we are always looking for more volunteers.

"It's an old home. It is always in need of some sort of repair. There's always weather issues, leaks in the cellar, there's wallpaper that was put up in 1980. We're doing a room-by-room renovation. We've done two rooms in the last six years."

A lot of visitors come back year after year, especially at Christmas. The house is also a favorite place for local schools to bring students. This past Tuesday, third-graders from Jackson's East Elementary School toured the house in three separate groups, with Cheryl Mabuce taking half of each group upstairs while the rest remained downstairs for a tour with Margie Schwent.

A portrait of Marie Watkins Oliver is displayed in the entrance foyer next to a glass dove calling card holder that was owned by Mrs. Oliver.

"Is that a smoke detector?" asked one boy, pointing to the ceiling. "It's not original to the house," Cheryl Mabuce said, "but we want to be safe." As questions were asked, the docents did their best to satisfy youthful curiosity.

"We are here to learn more about Missouri's history and specifically about Jackson's history," said Kristen Oberlohr, who supervised the tour group. "We go every year. All of Jackson's third-graders take this field trip at some point in the year."

The museum features many antiques of local significance. The banjo clock in the senator's study came from the old St. Charles Hotel in Cape Girardeau.

The piano in the parlor was purchased by George Frederick Bollinger for his daughter, Sarah, from a New York firm in 1815 for $1,000. Ordered from England, the piano was shipped over ocean and rivers to Bollinger's settlement on the Whitewater River at Burfordville. Sarah would play the piano to entertain area farmers who brought their grain on Saturdays to the mill owned by Bollinger.

The sewing chest with the name "Oliver" engraved on the top belonged to Mrs. Oliver. It contains sewing materials from several decades, including a "darning egg." She likely used it while sewing the first Missouri state flag. She began her flag project in 1908 and the state adopted the design in 1913.

Margie Schwent shows the kitchen of the Oliver House to third-graders from Jackson's East Elementary School. The fireplace was used for cooking.Fred Lynch

The Native American Indian artifacts, a framed collection of arrowheads, were all found on the Oliver plantation in the Fruitland area by the sons and grandsons of Senator Oliver.

Outside the house, "Marie's Garden" features Missouri native plants and heirloom varieties, including grape vines and a rose bush. A wooden bench surrounds a tree where visitors can relax in the shade.

flynch@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3643